Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin pauses in the House of Delegates Chamber during the state of the state Wednesday evening. / AP/Robert M. Wojcieszak, The Daily Mail

by USA TODAY, USA TODAY

by USA TODAY, USA TODAY

West Virginia National Guard troops distributed bottled water from Maryland on Friday after a chemical spill in the Elk River in Charleston contaminated the water supply for as many as 300,000 people in nine counties.

The federal government on Friday joined the state in declaring a state of emergency for much of the southwest section of the state.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin urged water customers in the southwest counties of Kanawha, Putnam, Jackson, Clay, Lincoln, Logan, Roane and Boone counties, as well as customers in the area of Culloden in Cabell County, to stop using water for everything but flushing toilets and fighting fires.

"Do not drink it. Do not cook with it. Do not wash clothes in it. Do not take a bath in it," Tomblin warned. "For safety, we would ask everyone -- this includes restaurants, hospitals, any institutions out there -- please do not use any tap water if you're a customer of West Virginia American Water."

Schools were also closed in five counties.

The emergency triggered a run on stores selling bottled water, including a Sam's Club that sold its 4,200 cases of water in an hour and a half, The Charleston Daily Mail reports. Store employees said they were unable to find any more water at stores in a 20-mile radius.

The sheriff's office in Kanawha county reported receiving about a dozen 911 calls after scuffles broke out over rapidly dwindling supplies. The Charleston Gazette reports. Police were asked to step up patrols around convenience stores.

The spill occurred on Thursday when a foaming agent used in the coal preparation process leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries and overran a containment area in the capital.

Shortly afterward the chemical poured into the Elk River and a nearby treatment plant as the smell enveloped parts of Charleston.

The state Department of Environmental Protection's air-quality officials discovered the spill -- which the company had not self-reported, the Gazette reported.

The chemical's odor -- similar to licorice or cough syrup - was especially strong at the Charleston Marriott hotel a few blocks from the Elk River, which flows into the Kanawha River in downtown Charleston. The Marriott shut off all water to rooms, and then turned it back on so guests could flush toilets. Each guest was given two 16.9-ounce bottles of spring water upon returning to the hotel.

Officials from Freedom, a manufacturer of chemicals for the mining, steel, and cement industries, hadn't commented since the spill, but a woman who answered the phone at the company said it would issue a statement later Friday, the Associated Press reports.

The head of the state Air National Guard's 130th Airlift Wing said 51 tractor-trailers loaded with water were sent to West Virginia from a Federal Emergency Management Agency facility in Maryland, the Gazette reports. A C-130 cargo aircraft was sent to Martinsburg to pick up the water.

Some officials said the orders against drinking water from the tap were issued as a precaution, as they were still not sure exactly what hazard the spill posed to residents. It also was not immediately clear how much of the chemical spilled into the river and at what concentration.

"I don't know if the water is not safe," water company president Jeff McIntyre said. "Until we get out and flush the actual system and do more testing, we can't say how long this (advisory) will last at this time."

According to a fact sheet from Fisher Scientific, the chemical is harmful if swallowed - and could be so if inhaled - and causes eye and skin irritation.

The governor's warning about water use included restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and other establishments that use tap water.

Early Friday, Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety spokesman Lawrence Messina said he wasn't aware of any hospitals closing and that area medical centers "seemed to have adequate water supply, at least for the short term."

At the Little India restaurant in Charleston, about 12 customers were asked to leave when bar manager Bill LaCourse learned about the shutdown notice.

Karlee Bolen, 16, of Charleston, said her family, including her parents, two sisters and brother, were considering the possibility of heading to her grandmother's home in Braxton County, where tap water was unaffected, an hour to the northeast.